Anti Essays :: Free "Christianity - A Worldly Success" Essay
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Submitted by karenpawly on October 20, 2008
As we begin, let us remember first off that Jesus was in fact a Jew. Mind you, I see no prejudice in any religion, I wish for worldly tolerance of all. But Jesus’ message was one that emphasized the love and mercy of God, the love and brotherhood of men of good will, the unimportance of worldly wealth and power, and the comfort and promise of redemption and happiness. The message sounds really good, doesn’t it? Christianity did not grow because of miracle working in the marketplaces, or because Constantine said it should, or even because the martyrs gave it such credibility (Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, 1996). It grew because Christianity became the greatest of the mystery religions of its time, in the sense that baptism and instruction were necessary for preface to its rights. When Christianity came to the Roman Empire it performed perhaps one of the most significant cultural revolutions in the history of the West. In general, Christian values stood directly opposed to those values of classical thought, that is, of the Greco-Roman tradition (Steven Kreis, Christianity as a Cultural Revolution. 2006). I think there may be a substitute for an opinion poll of religious belief in antiquity (Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity, 1996). Although the Romans allowed for more religious freedoms than any previous documented civilization, I don’t know if Christianity was a complete success. It has spanned the globe in the form of Catholicism and there are countless “Christian” organizations and religions here in the States alone; but a success? That question can only be answered in the eyes of each individual. If Christianity was a complete success, we wouldn’t have Buddhist, Hindus, Muslims, Pagans, Daoists, Atheists, and so on in the many regions of the world. This alone tells me that Christianity wasn’t a worldly success.
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